Delhi launches health insurance for poor families

New Delhi, July 19 (IANS) Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit Saturday formally launched a government scheme to provide health insurance to people living below poverty line (BPL). The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) was launched by distributing smart cards to BPL families that would enable them to avail free treatment in more than 80 private hospitals and private nursing homes.

This is in addition to facilities being provided at government hospitals.

The smart card includes photographs of five members of the family, including its head, their fingerprints and a toll-free number. The beneficiaries are also being provided with a list of designated hospitals and nursing homes.

Speaking on the occasion, Dixit described RSBY as an “ambitious plan to provide quality treatment” to those people, who are otherwise not able to get treatment in private hospitals.

The chief minister said all the 28,000 BPL families holding ration cards in the city will get the smart card.

Apart from the treatment cost, the beneficiaries would be entitled for a transport allowance upto Rs.100 for commuting to and from hospitals, with a maximum limit of Rs.1,000 per annum.

A family of five would be able to avail medical treatment upto a limit of Rs.30,000 per annum.

State Labour Minister Mangat Ram Singhal said that the toll-free help line number 1800-11-3300 has been to facilitate treatment in private designated hospitals and nursing homes.

The central government had announced the ambitious Rs.7.5 billion Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana for the BPL families in October last year.